Glendale Unified School District

Supportive of GCC students? protest Requiring a two-thirds majority to pass a state-budget-created havoc with many Glendale Community College students who already have economic problems (??It?s anti-democratic,? ? March 24) is bad. California education funding is already near the bottom of 50 states. Since I am an older student at Glendale Community College, I sympathize with the protesting students in these difficult times. It is hard enough to pay rent, put food on the table and pay for health insurance.

GLENDALE — Teachers may get paid late if their union does not vote this month on their tentative contract with Glendale Unified School District, officials said. If ratified, the contract requires teachers to take one furlough day this school year, which forces the school district to create a new payroll database — a paperwork nightmare for district officials, Deputy Supt. Dick Sheehan said. “Unfortunately, the technology is not a simple, ‘put something in the system and it’s calculated,’” he said.

Brand Boulevard was more carnival than business district Wednesday as hundreds of people swung through restaurants and shops in the ninth annual Taste of Downtown Glendale. Organizers said about 1,100 tickets were sold to the event, which offers participants wine and food samplings at scores of restaurants throughout downtown. It is one of the biggest fundraisers for Glendale Healthy Kids, a nonprofit that finds low-cost and free health care for low-income and underinsured children.

A marching band, cheerleaders and public officials stirred Mann Elementary School students into a frenzy of cheers Monday in anticipation of a week of standardized tests. Visiting speakers pushed the students to aim for a target of 825 points out of 1,000 on the exams, which begin Tuesday. “Let’s hear it,” Al Ferrara, a former Dodger outfielder and invited inspirational speaker, told the crowd of cheering students on the Mann blacktop. “We’re going to do 825!

The Glendale Educational Foundation, in partnership with the city of Glendale, Glendale Unified School District and Glendale Arts, presents the 2010 Student Showcase on June 4 at the Alex Theatre. Student groups will perform from Hoover and Glendale high schools, Toll Middle School and Jefferson, Mann and Keppel elementary schools. There will also be films shown from students at Clark Magnet High School. This is a wonderful opportunity to see what great work is being done in our schools in visual and performing arts.

Failing to lay off teachers would lead to fiscal ruin and, eventually, state intervention, Glendale Unified School District officials said. State law requires school boards maintain balanced budgets three consecutive years out, and Glendale Unified officials estimate a $18.5-million deficit by 2011-12. When school boards cannot or do not budget adequately, state regulators appoint a trustee who makes the tough decisions. “They are all powerful,” Chief Financial Officer Eva Lueck said.

GLENDALE ? The number of Glendale Unified School District teachers at risk of losing their jobs could drop from 105 to 71 as administrators reconsider a planned increase in class sizes. The announcement, made Tuesday at the Board of Education meeting, came as teachers, parents and students rallied publicly against a proposal to cut costs by increasing class-size ratios to 30 to 1. District officials have sought to keep highly specialized teachers, many of whom are low on the seniority list, but have instructional abilities that more experienced teachers lack.

Scores of teachers and parents marched from their school campuses to Glendale Unified headquarters Tuesday, continuing a campaign to pressure school board members to rescind 105 teacher pink slips. More than 60 parents, teachers and students from Edison Elementary School led the march with chants of “Save our students,” and “I want [Supt. Michael] Escalante’s salary,” along the roughly milelong protest to Jackson Street. “Our school really is a family, and this is affecting our whole school,” said Minette Garcia, a parent of two daughters who are in the dual-language immersion program at Edison Elementary.

GLENDALE — A state agency has approved reimbursing Glendale Unified School District about $16.8 million for campus improvements, but none of it can be used to offset teacher layoffs, officials said. The State Allocations Board will compensate Glendale Unified less than half of the roughly $37.9 million district officials requested last year. The funds can be spent only on facilities, Chief Budget Officer Eva Lueck said. A projected $18.5-million deficit by 2011-12 has set the stage for rounds of teacher layoffs in coming weeks, pitting union leaders against district officials and the school board.

EDUCATION Edison, Keppel and Franklin elementary schools could be converted to magnet campuses this fall if Glendale Unified School District is awarded a $3-million federal grant. Under the proposed change for next school year, Edison would have an advanced technology component throughout the curriculum, Keppel would elevate arts instruction, and Franklin would feature additional foreign-language classes and an arts academy. District officials are preparing an application for a three-year, $3-million federal grant to pay for the program, said Joanna Junge, Glendale Unified’s director of special projects and professional development.